


Worth It

by TheFourtiethHorseman



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: At least the first chapter is, Canon Compliant, Corporal Punishment, Crying, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Post-Suicide Mission, Spanking, Work In Progress, and then turns into a crack fic, dads of marmora, episode s04e06, it starts off as a serious fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 19:04:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14195700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFourtiethHorseman/pseuds/TheFourtiethHorseman
Summary: " “The mission is more important than the individual!” Keith shouted back, eyes starting to water as he thought about the thing he’d been trying to neglect for the past few days. "





	1. Chapter 1

Kolivan wasn’t talking to him. 

 

It was Kolivan’s idea for them to return to the castle ship.Everyone else was, of course. Too many of the rebel bases had been compromised, and the meeting with Lotor was both up in the air and inevitable.He said, “I know where to find you.I’ll be in touch,” before vanishing into the depths of space.They couldn’t figure out any way to track him, and they decided to let him go. 

 

Keith kind of wanted to go after him.The asshole had played a sick game of cat and mouse and made a mockery out of Keith’s firsts attempts at leading Voltron.It was personal .

 

Then again, Lotor had just technically saved his life- kept Keith from taking his own life-and that was… also personal.Keith didn’t want to think about it.He was trying really hard not to think about it. 

 

Keith had never once been suicidal.He’d fought too damn hard for too damn long, and if something was going to take him out, making him lose that fight, it damn well wasn’t gonna be him.That had never been more clear to him than in the last moments of battle.He was trying not to think about it- trying really damn hard not to think about it.The weirdest part was, nobody else knew.

 

Well, no. Matt knew.Matt had been there with him, shouting for Keith to turn back and think about what he was doing, but Keith had been thinking about what he was doing.He was thinking about his friends and their allies and the countless lives that would be lost when that planet went up as a fireball.He’d thought, ‘either I die, or we all die,’ and it wasn’t like that was really an option.

 

He knew what he was doing, and Matt seemed to understand that, but that didn’t make him any happier about it.

 

He caught Keith off guard in the Lion’s hangar one evening and sat him down to talk about it, and Keith didn’t cry, but his throat had been uncomfortably tight the entire time.Matt sat with him on the paw of the Red Lion and listened.When Keith finished answering his questions, Matt socked him on the shoulder and said, “Asshole.Sacrificing yourself shouldn’t be an option.”

 

But Matt swore himself to secrecy and promised not to tell the other paladins.He agreed that there wasn’t much to gain from them knowing.It would just make them sad, and worried, and it was already over and done with.Keith didn’t want to deal with that kind of collateral.

 

There was collateral to be dealt with anyways, it seemed.It wasn’t until three days in, when everyone was finally starting to unwind and settle down, that Keith realized Kolivan was avoiding him.Day one had been full of clean ups, moving everyone in and out of the healing pods as efficiently as possible, setting up guest rooms and sleeping arrangements, making sure everyone was comfortable.The whole situation had Allura looking a little tight around the eyes, so the rest of them did their best to help her out.They were exhausted, but Keith didn’t mind having something to keep his thoughts occupied.

 

Day two was a little bit harder.He spent it with the other paladins, helping Hunk with some basic repairs on the lions and listening to Pidge and Matt’s long winded explanations about whatever convoluted project they were working on.Lance rigged himself up on a pulley hanging from the Yellow Lion’s jaw and used it like a swing, swaying back and forth idly and sharing a perplexed shrug with Keith any time the Wonder Twins got too into it.

 

Shiro didn’t hang out with them, but then again, Shiro had stopped hanging out with them at all after returning from the Galra the second time.That was another thing Keith tried not to think about.Shiro was still there, of course, and nothing could paint him in a bad light in Keith’s eyes.Shiro was his mentor, his family , and just because he was acting distant didn’t mean Keith was going to let him go.

 

 Once again, he’d worked too damn hard. 

 

Somehow that made it worse, though.Because just as Keith had learned to trust Shiro, he’d been learning to trust Kolivan.Shiro had put in a lot of effort to sneak around Keith’s walls and get to know him, and Kolivan had put in just as much work, inviting Keith in for training, spending countless hours educating him.He wasn’t the warmest person ever, but neither was Keith, so it worked.

 

 There were very few people whose disappointment carried any weight for Keith, and he hadn’t intended for one of them to be Kolivan.But as day five rolled around, and Keith watched as Kolivan made eye contact with him across the dinner table, then immediately stood up and walked out of the room, he knew that something was wrong.

 

He decided to go talk to him, excusing himself from the meal and getting lost in the din of voices.The table was much more crowded than it used to be, squeezed tight with not only the paladins and Alteans, but the rebel fighters and the Blade of Marmora members who’d chosen to stay on board.Nobody noticed Keith slip out of the room.

 

He trailed Kolivan to the room he was staying in, in a hallway that branched off from the paladin’s own, and wasn’t surprised when Kolivan was sitting there waiting for him.

 

“Come in,” he said when Keith knocked, but he didn’t look up from the holopad held in his grip when Keith stepped inside and leaned back nervously against the door that closed behind him. 

 

 Now that he was finally facing the situation, it was Keith who didn’t know what to say.He rocked back on his heels and rolled a bit of loose fabric from his pants between his forefinger and thumb, nerves seeping out of him.He cleaned his throat and decided to bite the bullet.

 

“It seems like you’ve been ignoring me.”

 

Kolivan turned to face Keith with a face made of concrete, and Keith very quickly decided that he preferred to be ignored.He rose to his full height, which was several feet taller than Keith was, and seemed to loom from across the room.

 

 

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to approach me.How long did you think you could keep it from me?” Kolivan asked, holding up the holopad and showing surveillance grabbed from his Blade of Marmora mask.Kolivan and Pidge had updated all of them to take video footage in battle, just like the paladin helmets.This one clearly showed Keith directing the ship headfirst towards the particle barrier.“This decision was one of the most reckless I have ever seen.You chose to put yourself in direct danger for a plan you weren’t sure would work, and you were seconds away from getting yourself killed!”

 

 

Keith opened his mouth to defend himself, but he barely made a sound before Kolivan plowed over him. “I-“

 

“I am not finished.”

 

Keith didn’t like lectures, and he tended to face them with as much casual disrespect as he could get away with.He’d been a master at toeing the line at the Garrison, and he knew Allura wasn’t a fan of his attitude.

 

But Kolivan was not only his trainer- he had the power to put Keith on missions, or ground him indefinitely.Keith shut his mouth and listened.Kolivan set the pad down and paced a bit as he continued.

 

“This is not the first time you have acted like this.If you have no regard for your own safety, then I cannot trust you in the field.”

 

Keith’s breath hitched, shock startling it out of him.“What?” he asked.

 

“Emotional, thoughtless actions might count as strategy for Voltron, but I am not losing another Blade by his own failure.”

 

There was nothing else to say after that.Kolivan waited silently, with a furrowed brow and closed off expression, and when Keith couldn’t come up with any proper way to respond, he sat back down at his desk and resumed work with his holopad.Keith lulled by the door, heart hammering out of his chest because it wasn’t supposed to go this way.He hadn’t wanted anyone find out.He didn’t know how to explain what he’d done, just that he’d had to do it. 

 

But that wasn’t enough for Kolivan.He was mad, and Keith had to think up some way to make this all better.He had to prove he was taking this seriously.Which he was , how could he not ?He wouldn’t have thought about crashing into that Galra ship if he was anything but serious.

 

“Kolivan, please…” he said, and got no response.He reached up and rubbed a hand over his face, tugged slightly at his own hair.“Tell me what I have to do to fix this.Scream at me.Sick the training bots on me.Make Coran give me chores, I just-I don’t care!Just tell me what I have to do.”

 

“Not caring is the problem,” Kolivan stated, not turning to look at Keith just yet.Keith frowned.That wasn’t what he’d meant.Why was it so hard to have conversations like this?Nothing ever came out the way he wanted.

 

Kolivan sighed heavily, then finally turned and looked at him.He stood from his chair once again and crossed the small room to the bed against the opposite wall.“You say you want to be punished?I want you to understand the depth of your actions.Perhaps an earth method of discipline will be more effective on you.”

 

Keith had no idea what Kolivan was talking about, nor did he know how he’d learned anything about Earth, but he wasn’t about to start arguing when they’d finally gotten somewhere.

 

“Fine,” he said,“Whatever, anything.”

 

Keith was not actually prepared for ‘anything.’Because Kolivan nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed, then stared Keith down and beckoned him forward with one finger.“Come here,” he said, and Keith’s heart stopped.

 

“You can’t be serious,” he said, words falling out of his mouth without a thought to reign them in. 

 

Kolivan raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do I look like I am joking?”

 

Fair enough.Kolivan rarely looked like he was joking.Keith took a hesitant step forward, not looking to push his luck and piss Kolivan off further.“You’re going to….”

 

“I believe it’s called ‘spanking’,” Kolivan filled in for him, and Keith felt his face catch fire. 

 

“Oh God….”

 

Kolivan considered him patiently before nodding once and patting his left thigh.“Lay over my knee, then.And take down your trousers.”

 

Keith wouldn’t have thought he could feel any more embarrassed than he already was.“But….”

 

“If you do not want me to hurt you, I had better be able to see what I’m doing.” 

 

Keith couldn’t argue with that logic. Throwing the last scraps of his pride out the window, Keith unfastened his belt and shoved his pants down his thighs, then took a deep, steeled himself, and bent over Kolivan’s knee.

 

Kolivan immediately readjusted him, hooking an arm around Keith’s middle and pulling him forward, so that his feet no longer touched the ground and he had to brace his arms on the mattress.He squirmed a bit, until his hip bones were no longer digging into Kolivan’s thigh, and looked back over his shoulder.He just wanted to get this over with.

 

“Do you know why we are doing this?” With Kolivan unable to see his face, Keith allowed himself to roll his eyes.

 

“Yes, I- Ah! ” The first smack caught him off guard, and the first was always the worst one, somehow more painful than memory would ever allow for, but even this was out of the ordinary.Keith should have expected this.Kolivan’s hand was the size of Keith’s head, and his skin was practically leather. Keith gritted his teeth against the burn that radiated through him and ducked his head down between his shoulders.

 

 “Tell me,” Kolivan said, and brought his hand down three more times. Keith hissed out a breath and had to swallow his tongue before it would work properly.

 

“I-I… uh… I made a stupid decision?” He tried thinking of what Kolivan would want to hear from him, what Kolivan thought he did wrong. He couldn’t think anything when the next smack fell, ringing out like a gunshot in the otherwise silent area of the castle.Keith screwed his eyes shut and tried not to squirm.

 

“You did,” Kolivan agreed.“Since the moment I found out, I have been trying to figure out why.”

 

Four more burning smacks fell while Kolivan spoke, and Keith tightened up like a bow string in an effort to hold himself still, hands curling into tight fists around the bedding and breath coming out of huffs. 

 

“I thought it was the right thing to do,” Keith said through gritted teeth, wincing as he was struck again.“We couldn’t have known Lotor was going to step in.”

 

“Neither did we have any way of knowing that your plan would work .” Two more smacks set Keith on fire, and he flinched away from them.Kolivan tightened his arm around Keith and pressed him down into the bed.No longer in charge of keeping himself still, Keith kicked out and struggled under Kolivan’s arm.He squirmed, got smacked again, and choked back a shout that threatened to rise up in his throat.“If we can even call it a plan.More like a rash decision with very little thought put into it.”

 

Keith let out a groan as smack after blistering smack fell, and he struggled uselessly against Kolivan.

 

“There.. there wasn’t time to think!Somebody had to do something!”

 

“Why does that somebody have to be you!?”

 

“The mission is more important than the individual!” Keith shouted back, eyes starting to water as he thought about the thing he’d been trying to neglect for the past few days.He’d repeated that to himself when he’d made up his mind- ‘ the mission is more important than the individual.’ His thoughts started at ‘save the mission ’ and shifted to ‘ save your friends .’It quickly morphed itself into a mantra, the words ‘ I don’t want to die ’ repeating over and over in his head.He’d thought, ‘ maybe I should say goodbye ,’ wondered if anyone was listening, and then Lotor’s laser blew the ship to pieces.Keith had been so relieved that he hadn’t been able to stop shaking.Everyone had been celebrating when he’d made it back to the castle.Keith put all of his energy into trying not to cry.

 

 He couldn’t stop himself, now.He didn’t have enough self-control left over to handle it.Tears slipped from his eyes and he buried his face in the bedding.He didn’t even notice that Kolivan had stopped- couldn’t seem to register it.He just knew that he was tired and in pain and Kolivan was mad at him and Keith had been so, so close to dying.

 

“I’m sorry,” the words fell out of him, no way of stopping them. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to.”

 

“Keith... cub.Calm, child, it’s over.”The pressure against his back let up, and a hand in the back of his marmora uniform tugged him upright.Keith scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes and tried to pull away, because he was crying and that was embarrassing and he really just wanted to be alone.Keith tried to pull away, but Kolivan caught onto both of his arms and held him still.

 

 Keith tugged his pants back up where they belonged and kept his eyes pointedly on the wall next to them, that is, until Kolivan said, “Look at me.Listen,” and Keith had no real choice but to do as he was told.

 

“That mindset is to prepare us for the tougher choices of war.It is by no means a deliberate platform to take risks and chances with, and your mortality should never be an ‘if’ option.If we did not fight for our lives, there would be no fight at all.”

 

“It’s just… If my death could save everyone else…”

 

“Not an option,” Kolivan repeated.“Your life has as much value as anyone else.Sometimes the most important lesson is learning when to quit.” 

 

“I thought relentlessness was a good thing.”

 

”Perseverence, yes.Stubbornness, no.Don’t make me deal with losing you because of your own damn bull-headedness.”

 

 That comment earned a grin out of Keith.He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked, teasing him by saying, “Aw, Kolivan.You care about me.”

 

 Kolivan immediately scowled, releasing Keith and standing up.“Alright.We are finished.Get out.” He didn’t look genuinely irritated, and definitely not angry like earlier.

 

 “Yes sir,” Keith said, as cheeky as possible, earning him another scowl and a nudge towards the door.

 

 “We will discuss this again later, but I hope you learned a lesson today.”

 

 Keith had definitely learned a lesson, if only that he should definitely stay on Kolivan’s good side.Also that he ought to get a hold of the encyclopedia file Pidge had given to Kolivan and destroy it before it lead to anything else horrible.

 

His butt was still stinging painfully, rubbing uncomfortably against the not exactly soft fabric of his Marmora uniform.His plan was to go to his room, grab a shower, and check out the damage in the bathroom mirror.With the force Kolivan had used, and the way every step shot another spike of muscle deep pain through him, there had to be at least some bruising.

 

God, that was so embarrassing.Keith couldn’t believe that had even happened to him, but despite the pain and embarrassing punishment, Keith was feeling far better than he had since they’d gotten back to the castle. 

 

“Whoa, Keith.Are you okay?”He hadn’t planned on running into Lance in the hallway, and he hadn’t realized that he still likely looked like an absolute disaster.His clothes were disheveled and out of sorts, his hair was probably sticking out funny from being rubbed into the bed, and his face was still sticky with tear tracks.

 

God damn it.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, trying to sound as casual about it as possible. 

 

“Are you crying?”

 

“I, um…” he wracked his brain and tried to think of the last thing he’d seen Hunk crying over.“Hunk showed me one of those cute animal videos on Pidge’s laptop,” he answered, and Lance’s face pulled into a smirk.

 

“Wow, man.”

 

“Shut up,” Keith said, and booked it towards his room.Kolivan wanted him to learn to quit?Well Keith would start now, by getting far, far away from this conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

Technically, it had been Pidge and Lance’s idea.

 

Weeks prior, with the space dust of their latest victory settling in the cosmos behind them, team Voltron were light on their feet and in spirit as they made their way down the hall to the common room of the castle-ship. On more solemn days they tended to regroup in the control room, or on worse days, the med bay- standing with sunken shoulders and tired eyes as they laid out the events of their day. What had gone wrong. What they could do better.

 

As if they, cadets on the edge of maturity in the heat of their first war, had any wisdom to share.

 

They choked back the bitter taste in their mouth and ground in burning eyes with the heels of their hands, and they planned and plotted and tried to be better. Better was all they could hope for.

 

But this had not been one of those days. Today they’d started on top and ended there, taking out fighter jets left and right and blowing the approaching Galra fleet to smithereens, and that was after they’d successfully slipped out of Lotor’s sites and into the great beyond. 

 

He’d be looking for them for dobashes, if not quintents, and they finally had a little bit of time to breathe. 

 

And breathe they did, cheering and laughing as they made their way into the common room. They were hanging off each other in exhaustion and camaraderie, even Allura joining in, grabbing Lance by the back of his armor and tossing him down effortlessly onto the couch. He landed with a bounce and laughed, even as Pidge hopped on top of him and spread out, using him like a mattress. 

 

“Okay, I have to say it. That was amazing! ” Hunk said, grabbing Keith into a headlock and rubbing his knuckles into his hair, making Keith laugh and squirm to get away. He plopped down on the couch next to Lance and Pidge, and Keith collapsed bonelessly next to him, slouching until his head rested on his chest and his ass hung off the edge of his seat. Allura sat next to him, posture prim and proper and a symbol of her upbringing. She was tired, yes, but not tired enough to slouch. 

 

She smiled at Hunk’s words and said, “I could really feel our connections through the lions, this time. We’re finally starting to work as a team.”

 

“Dream team!” Lance cheered, voice loud and words a touch brassy the way he tended to be when he was both ecstatic and exhausted. A group from the Blade of Marmora, Kolivan included, remained on the ship after joining Voltron on a planet-side mission earlier that day. They filed into the room, unphased by Lance’s shouting, and gracefully lowered themselves onto the remaining couch space. 

 

Lance kicked his feet around and shook Pidge by the shoulders as he cheered, “They didn’t stand a chance. We totally spanked them!”

 

None of the paladins gave a second thought to the phrase, which wasn’t exactly common, but wasn’t unheard of either. Allura had learned long ago that the earthling’s language was riddled with strange rules and nonsensical turns of phrase, and she knew by now that most of the time it just wasn’t worth it to ask.

 

Kolivan, on the other hand, hadn’t learned this yet. Besides, he’d been a scholar back in his day, and he had an affinity for the written word. He’d mastered dozens of languages common among the galaxy, and he’d be damned if he didn’t try and master another one.

 

With the altean translators in place, there was no reason to not understand fully. That was why he narrowed his eyes, leaned forward onto his elbows, and asked the question, “What is meant by the word, ‘spanked’?”

 

The reaction he received was not on that made sense. 

 

The other Galra leaned in as well, equally curious and eager to understand more, not liking being left in the dark where the other’s language was concerned. Judging by the look on Lance’s face, he was very, very sorry he ever mentioned it. He stumbled over an explanation, the other’s giving him absolutely no help and doing nothing beyond blushing furiously, until Pidge had mercy on Lance and stepped in. 

 

She sat up (still seated in the middle of Lance’s stomach, earning a grunt out of him) and fished her laptop out from between couch cushions, where she’d hidden it away earlier. After a brief bout of typing she said, “Here,” and passed her laptop over to the Blade of Marmora leader. “This’ll explain it. Enjoy.”

 

Keith caught a glimpse at the computer screen as it passed over him and shot Pidge a curious look. “You downloaded an encyclopedia?” he asked, and Pidge shrugged on tiny shoulder carelessly.

 

“That’s my dad’s old work laptop,” she explained. “I guess he used it a lot when he was teaching.”

 

“Old people are weird,” Lance said with the nod of his head, and he yelped when Pidge flicked him heavily in the middle of the forehead. 

 

Kolivan balanced the computer system carefully on one knee and tapped ever so gently at the arrow buttons with the tip of his claw, not wanting to break the Earth tech, which was so rudimentary and primitive he wasn’t sure they could even try to recreate it. The others leaned in close to spy for a moment, quickly being satisfied with the first sentence of explanation and moving on, but Kolivan’s thirst for knowledge was insatiable.

 

An entire book full of Earth words and customs- a how-to guide for understanding their strange little allies.

 

“Is there a way to transfer these files onto an information pad?” he asked Pidge, who once again shrugged and gave up where she’d been wrestling against Lance on the couch.

 

“Yeah, sure,” she said. “Give me an hour.”

 

“Excellent. Thank you.”

 

Kolivan pressed gently at the arrow key once again and looked to see what else the file had to offer him. 

 

The next word it offered him was ‘spar,’ defined as ‘fighting, boxing, or exchanging blows.’ Ah yes, this was a book Kolivan was interested in. 

 

He pressed the up arrow a few times and was given a new word: ‘snake.’

 

Fascinating.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: for the sake of continuity, let’s bend the canon to our will and say that Keith and his mother met before the action of Martyrdom that kicked the first piece of this idea into action (you know, the kamikaze flight stunt to save Voltron and the rest of the rebel forces? Yeah, that one). Keith met his mom FIRST, and it doesn’t matter what the consequences of that would be in canon, because this is a crack fic and reality doesn’t matter here.

“Keep up, we are late,” Kolivan said, striding down the hallway at optimum speed, as quick as he could move without running and looking undignified. Keith, on the other hand, had to sprint to keep up with him, looking rather undignified indeed with his hood falling off, his uniform crooked from their rush getting dressed, and his blade clutched between his teeth. It had been bouncing against his hip as he ran, irritating the bruise there, and Keith was far too tired to put up with that.

 

They reached the appointed meeting place just as Allura was greeting the room, and she sent them a very meaningful look as they slipped through the doorway. Kolivan stopped short, slowing immediately, and Keith ran directly into his back.

 

He noticed a smile tug at the corners of Allura’s mouth, but she quickly steeled her expression and continued addressing the room as Kolivan snagged a hand in the back of Keith’s uniform and dragged him towards their spot at the table.

 

Krolia was already sitting at the table, taking up one of their three allotted chairs. She sat tall, elbows braced on the table and eyes attentive as she picked her fingernails with the tip of her Blade. Kolivan pushed Keith into the middle seat and plopped down on his right, sitting with a ramrod straight back and high chin, military discipline shining through his every action.

 

Keith tried to emulate him, he really did. First, he’d spent a few minutes trying to straighten up his uniform while still appearing to pay attention, but when twin elbows knocked into his arms at the same time, he gave up the effort and resigned himself to looking messy. 

 

These meetings always went far longer than was necessary. Keith was as passionate about the war effort as the next guy, and usually a bit more so, but the desire to play hooky during diplomacy meetings was a strong one. They had stuff to do, and it was frustrating to spend so much time sitting around and arguing about it.

 

He knew the other paladins felt similarly. They stood behind Allura at the front of the room for this meeting, and while Shiro was standing tall and attentive, he started to look a little dead behind the eyes as the clock ticked on. He was doing better than Hunk, who was standing still very politely, but was probably asleep on his feet, or Pidge and Lance, who every so often would step on the other’s foot of throw pointed looks at something across the room.

 

Once, Pidge caught Keith’s eye, and she immediately crossed her own. Keith just barely stopped himself from snorting out loud, and the looks he learned from the other dignitaries seated around him were less than pleased.

 

He glued his eyes back to Allura and tried to behave.

 

He couldn’t pay attention, though. The arguments were long and drawling and circular, and Keith was exhausted. The only thing helping him keep his eyes open was also the other thing keeping him from paying attention.

 

The chairs were hard . Keith wanted to go back in time and talk to the inventor, because whatever Altean metal they were made out of, it wasn’t doing him any favors. He found himself incapable of sitting still; every few minutes, the faint throbbing would turn to irritated burning, and he’d end up biting his lip and squirming in his seat.

 

After the fourth time changing positions, or so, Krolia placed a casual hand on his shoulder and ever so subtly dug her claws in. 

 

Keith made himself sit still. He made himself sit still and kept his eyes on Allura and did his best to stay awake, and it was an impossible amount of time before one of the older Krül called the meeting to a close, saying they could pick it up again tomorrow if there was anything else to discuss.

 

As soon as was appropriate, Keith shot up out of his chair, and the relief was devastating. Keith was worried, for a moment, that they would be forced to stick around for more conversation afterwards. He wasn’t sure he could quite manage to appear normal after all of that, and he would rather not be submitted to questioning.

 

Especially not questioning from Pidge and Hunk and Lance. The three of them were brutal when they wanted to be, and Keith was not in the mood.

Luckily, just as Keith saw Lance wave and take a step in his direction, Allura’s voice rang out through the room. “Paladins, if you please,” she called, and promptly lead them through a door that Keith knew housed a hallway to the bridge.

 

It was both a relief to stay behind and a heartache to not be among them.

 

Oh well.

 

Much to Keith’s misfortune, Kolivan was under the idea that staying around to chat was an excellent idea. Keith trailed silently behind Kolivan, answering questions when addressed directly, but mostly using all his remaining self-control and energy to not sag against Kolivan’s side and fall asleep.

 

Krolia wandered off on her own for a while, disappearing from sight, and while Keith wasn’t too keen to spend much one-on-one time with her, he wished she’d taken him with her before disappearing.

 

A short while later, while the other guests were entertaining themselves, Kolivan retired to privacy at the back of the room and found an empty chair. Keith glanced at the chair next to him, frowned at it, and leaned his shoulder against the wall. It was so hard to not let his eyes close… to not just fall asleep on his feet.

 

“Have a seat, why don’t you?” Krolia’s voice caught him off guard and had him snapping his eyes back open. He blinked at her, then at the chair she indicated towards. He looked at Kolivan and found his face blank, but Keith thought he could see humor behind his eyes. Kolivan was probably laughing his ass off inside his head.

 

Keith pursed his lips and crossed his arms tighter. “No, thank you,” he answered.

 

Krolia regarded him closely, humming quietly under her breath. “You’re acting strange,” she said, as if she knew anything about how he normally acted. He scowled. “Recovering from an injury.”

 

Kolivan snickered at that, and Keith shot him a glare.

 

“No,” he snapped, and Krolia’s look said that she definitely didn’t believe him. “Kind of.” God damn it.

 

“Kind of?” Krolia asked, and Kolivan covered a chuckle with a cough. Keith, not-so-subtly, kicked him in the ankle, and Kolivan’s immediate response was to swat him on the ass with the back of his hand. 

 

Keith hissed in response and jumped away, out of range, folding his hands at the small of his back and glaring at Kolivan even more angrily than before. Kolivan raised one eyebrow at him, silently asking if Keith deserved it. Keith had to admit that he did.

 

Krolia regarded the both of them with a studious eye. “What was that just now?” she asked Kolivan, who shrugged innocently.

 

“I do not know what you are speaking of.”

 

Krolia turned her glare to Keith. “What happened to you?” she asked, and Keith averted his eyes towards the floor.

 

“Nothing, just sore,” he answered, and promptly found his face gripped in her hands.

 

“You are injured,” she insisted, turning his head from one side to the other to look him over.

 

“No, I-” Keith tried to pull his head away and push her hands off, and he was unsuccessful on both accounts. “Kolivan just-”

 

She let go of him after that, whirling around and glaring firmly down at the seated Kolivan, hands on her hips and expression fierce. “You hurt my offspring? ” she demanded. Kolivan regarded her calmly for a long moment.

 

“I did not hurt him, I disciplined him,” was Kolivan’s response, and Keith dropped his burning face into his hands as he sagged back against the wall in defeat. 

 

Peeking out between his fingers revealed Krolia actually baring her teeth at Kolivan as she demanded, “Disciplined him how ?”

 

“Simple,” Kolivan replied, obliviously ignoring Keith waving his hand in a desperate attempt at getting him to shut up. “Spanking.”

 

“Wait,” Pidge’s voice was loud and sudden and directly behind Keith. He jumped, startled, and spun around to face her, backing away slowly and wishing he could run away from this entire conversation. “Did Kolivan just say ‘spanking?’” she asked, and after a curious glance between Keith’s mortified face and Kolivan’s amused one, she put the pieces together.

 

The grin that spread across her face was absolutely gleeful. “Oh my God…” she whispered.

 

“Pidge, no-”

 

“Hunk!” she hollered, one hand up to her mouth to amplify. “Hunk, get over here!”

 

You couldn’t really blame Keith for acting out of panic. He threw himself at Pidge’s back, attempting to get his hand over her mouth and shut her up. Pidge retaliated quickly, grabbing his arm and rotating to throw him over her hip. Instead of going down alone, Keith hooked her foot with his ankle and took her down with him. They hit the floor in a heavy thud of clacking armor and pained groans.

 

Keith landed flat on his back, taking the breath out of him and causing his abused ass to burst into pain once again. He groaned, and Pidge straightened her glasses before propping herself up on his chest, slapping a hand over his face, and shouting, “Hunk! Guess what!”

 

Keith tossed her off, and Pidge grabbed onto his clothes, rolling him with her. It was a blood fight after that, the two of them desperately trying to shut the other up while shouting and scrambling and trying to avoid knees to unfortunate places.

 

Few seconds of this action passed before Keith felt himself flying backwards, a strong hand curled into his hood and yanking him up. Keith scrambled to his feet to avoid choking, and Kolivan immediately wrapped one arm around his middle, holding him imobile against his armored chest. Keith squirmed and earned a flick to the ear.

 

“What is the meaning of this!?” someone short and fat and very old demanded, pounding an elegant looking sceptre on the floor and huffing like a bullfrog. Hunk, whom Pidge had been shouting for in the first place, was there, picking Pidge up off the floor as Allura and Shiro stormed towards them.

 

“Explain yourself,” Allura snapped, arms crossed and furious, and Keith knew they’d officially crossed the line from ‘fun’ to ‘out of bounds.’ Keith stuttered, opening and closing his mouth wordlessly and begging every diety in the universe that Pidge kept her damn mouth shut.

 

“Just children at play, I assure you.” The life sparing explanation came from Coran, who appeared at Kolivan’s side as if riding in on the wind. “It is important for young people to let off steam, don’t you think? Helps with morale. But for now, perhaps, we should all settle down for dinner. How about the paladins go wash up, hm?”

 

Coran’s last suggestion was accompanied with a guiding hand on Keith’s shoulder, pulling him away from Kolivan and towards the door at the back of the hall. Keith gaped at him, and Coran said, “Go on, then,” and sent Keith out the door with a pat on the ass.

 

Keith’s breath hitched, but he high-tailed it out of there while he had the chance, face burning like fire for the nth time that day. The others joined him in the hallway just a moment later- Lance and Pidge and Hunk. Lance asked, voice beyond confused, “Did Coran just smack your ass?”

 

Keith shrugged helplessly, throwing a scared glance towards Pidge, who immediately exploded into bellowing laughter. Hunk ended up scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder as they ambled down the hall, patting Lance on the back as he continued to complain rather loudly about ‘everyone acting weird.’


End file.
